26 DAYS IN DOVE DALE 



I should think not, indeed, for a more 

 jolly, genial picture of good health I never 

 came across in my life a splendid example 

 of what good air, good ale, and outdoor 

 exercise can make of a man. How I envy 

 him ! For here am I, a poor valetudinarian 

 (to say nothing of being a sexagenarian), who 

 dare not touch a glass of ale ; and now after 

 this six miles' walk and scramble over that 

 awful cave without any appetite whatever. 



They seem to get all sorts of people at this 

 hotel. There are, I dare say, some like me, 

 that " ha'e meat, an canna eat," and also some 

 1 'as can eat" like a company of ladies 

 (mostly foreigners, judging by their names), 

 under whose inscriptions in the visitor's book 

 some wag has written : 



"They ate so much, and they drank so much, 



And so little they cared to pay ; 

 That it was well for this hotel 

 When this lot went away." 



But I must be off. The trout are waiting for 

 me with open mouths ; the water is in better 

 " fettle " than ever, so perhaps I shall tell you 

 of my success in another letter. 



